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Advice needed on upgrade of Blender machine

idwxyz
By idwxyz
in New Builds and Planning
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Posted

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to upgrade from my four year old machine.

 

Current Spec:

  • i7 5820K (OC @ 4.3GHz)
  • MSI x99A SLI Krait Edition Motherboard
  • Corsair H110i AIO Cooler
  • 32Gb RAM (4 x 8GB DDR4-2666)
  • MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6Gb
  • Fractal Design Define R5
  • Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold
  • 2x 1TB SSD
  • 2x 3TB HDD
  • 1x 6TB HDD
  • LG 34 inch Ultrawide Monitor

Usage:

  • Mostly for Blender and Fusion 360
  • A bit of general creative stuff, After Effects, Premier, Photoshop, Illustrator
  • Some coding
  • Very occasional gaming (not AAA games and in 1080p/1440p)

 

The options for the 2011-V3 socket are pretty minimal, it looks like the 6900K would be the only CPU upgrade I could do and they're about £600. Throw in a 2080 Ti and I've spent £1600 on a machine that has no future headroom. So the alternative is building a new machine but I'm not sure where to start. I'm also not sure if it's worth selling my existing machine as the second hand prices looked pretty terible and it's still a reasonable amateur 3D workstation.

 

I'm thinking perhaps building a threadripper based machine might be the way to go, maybe start with one of the lower end ones now and then upgrade to a high end one in future when they're end of life?

 

Any recommendations would be appreciated. I'm in the UK and I'd like to spend less than £3k.

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Posted

Actually, you could go for Ryzen 3700 build for around 2k, I guess.

Purify your Windows 10/11, don't give Microsoft anything that you don't want to share.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZwVs9zrM493rjD42E2Pf0YcOkaW92ZUo

Tips for folding on laptop:

Lazy man wants upgrades from the sky.

https://stats.foldingathome.org/donor/Spakes

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But the main question is: Are you satisfied with speeds your current rig allows you to do your job with? Are you making money of it? If answers are "Yes and No", then no need for upgrade. Same with "No and No".

Purify your Windows 10/11, don't give Microsoft anything that you don't want to share.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZwVs9zrM493rjD42E2Pf0YcOkaW92ZUo

Tips for folding on laptop:

Lazy man wants upgrades from the sky.

https://stats.foldingathome.org/donor/Spakes

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18 minutes ago, idwxyz said:

Throw in a 2080 Ti and I've spent £1600 on a machine that has no future headroom

Why opt for a 2080 ti when this exists

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/s2Jtt6/xfx-radeon-vii-16-gb-video-card-rx-vegma3fd6

 

Significantly better for workstation use.

 

As for the CPU upgrade, with the cheaper GPU a Ryzen upgrade becomes more feasible. 

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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What's nice is you don't have to buy a Threadripper to enjoy massive core counts, the AM4 platform with up to 16 cores/32 threads would be a competent contender at an easier to stomach price. For most the supported memory is sufficient, but if you're planning on working with very high res video files I could understand the argument for Threadripper or Intel's HEDT platform. I guess it kind of depends on how much more you want the machine to do, pci-e gen 4 support is going to make for some wicked fast scratch drives in the future so I would avoid Intel's outdated platform for the time being.

 

Personally I don't dabble with the creative programs much anymore, so my 3950x only really spreads it's legs when I'm benchmarking or donating my computing power to a good cause. It is a pretty sweet processor though, with better to come next generation, so that's my vote. From your post it doesn't sound like you're currently using a tonne of PCI-e expansion cards so Threadripper is probably overkill.

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i'd get thes. the 2060 KO from evga actually uses cut down 2080 chips, which perform similarly in blender and other applications. the 3900x is second best consumer cpu after the 3950. you have budget for the 3950 as well if you want it.

 

PCPartPicker Part List
Type Item Price
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor £446.97 @ Aria PC
CPU Cooler Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler £67.44 @ Amazon UK
Motherboard Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard £153.99 @ AWD-IT
Memory G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory £215.00 @ Alza
Storage Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive £119.99 @ Amazon UK
Video Card EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB KO GAMING Video Card £272.00 @ Amazon UK
  Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts  
  Total £1275.39
  Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-28 15:38 GMT+0000  

 

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  • Author

Thanks all!

 

It looks like the AM4 socket is definitely the way to go. Just need to make a decision on which CPU and which GPU. With the 3950X and the Radeon VII it's a little under £2,100, or with a 2080 Ti it would be closer to £2,700.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor  (£698.87 @ CCL Computers) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (£89.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£153.99 @ AWD-IT) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (£281.51 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (£119.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon VII 16 GB Video Card  (£512.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case  (£67.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair HX Platinum 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£147.37 @ More Computers) 
Total: £2071.69
 

That leaves two last questions, how likely is it that AMD will keep producing new CPUs for the AM4 socket for a while to come? And what's the best way of selling a secondhand PC? I could take most of the drives out and sell it as a working machine, take it apart, reuse the case and PSU and sell the rest as parts, or I could give it to my wife to game on...

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8 minutes ago, idwxyz said:

Thanks all!

 

It looks like the AM4 socket is definitely the way to go. Just need to make a decision on which CPU and which GPU. With the 3950X and the Radeon VII it's a little under £2,100, or with a 2080 Ti it would be closer to £2,700.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor  (£698.87 @ CCL Computers) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (£89.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£153.99 @ AWD-IT) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (£281.51 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (£119.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon VII 16 GB Video Card  (£512.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case  (£67.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair HX Platinum 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£147.37 @ More Computers) 
Total: £2071.69
 

That leaves two last questions, how likely is it that AMD will keep producing new CPUs for the AM4 socket for a while to come? And what's the best way of selling a secondhand PC? I could take most of the drives out and sell it as a working machine, take it apart, reuse the case and PSU and sell the rest as parts, or I could give it to my wife to game on...

I've heard a lot of different year commitments to AM4 thrown around, the last one I heard was 2022 but it's just a promise not a certainty. At the very least I expect two more significant upgrades compatible with the current platform. After that AMD will probably want to have the freedom to design from a clean slate.

 

edit: and since this is the first use of PCI-e 4 I doubt there will be much worthwhile movement in PCI-e interface technology in the next couple years or more.

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8 minutes ago, Arrogath said:

I've heard a lot of different year commitments to AM4 thrown around, the last one I heard was 2022 but it's just a promise not a certainty.

From who? AMD's only official statement has been through 2020.

 

Expect a new socket (possibly AM4+) in 2021.

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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Yeah, ryzen 4000 series will likely be on am4 and supported by x570 board. 5000 series will likely be on am5 with ddr5 and thus not compatible.

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7 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

From who? AMD's only official statement has been through 2020.

 

Expect a new socket (possibly AM4+) in 2021.

and this is why I shouldn't post without coffee, thanks for catching that :D

I still wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of more than one upgrade cycle but that's dependent on how things turn out, regardless the platform is pretty potent and flexible for a mainstream consumer product

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6 minutes ago, Arrogath said:

I still wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of more than one upgrade cycle but that's dependent on how things turn out, regardless the platform is pretty potent and flexible for a mainstream consumer product

The ideal scenario is that we'll see some of the same overlap that we saw from AM3+

I WILL find your ITX build thread, and I WILL recommend the SIlverstone Sugo SG13B

 

Primary PC:

i7 8086k - EVGA Z370 Classified K - G.Skill Trident Z RGB - WD SN750 - Jedi Order Titan Xp - Hyper 212 Black (with RGB Riing flair) - EVGA G3 650W - dual booting Windows 10 and Linux - Black and green theme, Razer brainwashed me.

Draws 400 watts under max load, for reference.

 

How many watts do I need? ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5.0 spec, PSU misconceptions, protections explained, group reg is bad

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